LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - JULY 12, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio When the pandemic first mandated that people stay at home, many folks were faced with shopping for groceries from home. Some, like my son in California, ordered supplies for me, that were delivered from Tops in Batavia. I emailed my son-in-law with a list of food, and he would go shopping and bring them to my house. It seemed like a strange way to shop for groceries, but a hundred years ago, that was the way many people shopped for groceries. Not using the internet, but by the modern technology of the telephone. After calling the store, the storekeeper would gather all the groceries and pack them up in a box or a basket and a delivery boy would bring the food to your house.( Suspect there was a bicycle involved with the delivery.) The store would maintain a “running tab” and send a bill once a month. You bought your food on credit. If you did go to the store, there were counters along the walls. The store keeper would stand behind the counter and gather your groceries from the shelves behind him. It was important for a food supplier to have his product displayed on the shelves so the shopper could see the product. Suppliers vied for shelf space. Different brands, such as Gold Medal and Pillsbury, competed for space. So did Jell-O. Advertising in magazines often reminded people to “ask for it by name!” So, it was Gold Medal Brand flour, or Jell-O Brand gelatin. There are several Jell-O recipe books that show illustrations of women on the telephone placing their orders. One early book shows the groceryman on the phone. This was using the modern technology of the time: “Grocers’ phones everywhere are kept ringing from morning till night by housewives, chefs, and cooks who must have Jell-O, the dessert that is made by simply adding a pint of boiling water - - - Jell-O is made in seven flavors: strawberry, raspberry, lemon, orange, cherry, peach, chocolate. Ten cents a package at all grocers’. “ In LeRoy, there were several grocery stores on Main Street, and several stores in the neighborhood, all locally owned and family operated. Several of these are included in the 1940 Book. Willards, founded in 1920, was located at 23 Main Street – the former Gugino dentist office. Everyone had their favorite store for groceries. Sometimes it was because they catered to a certain group, such as the Italian families, and carried snails, olive oil and specialty meat. While others were known for their meats, coffee or bread. But grocery shopping was undergoing a change. Even as early as 1859, chain stores were being opened. The Atlantic and Pacific Tea Store (A&P) had its beginnings in New York City when George Gilman opened a small chain of retail tea and coffee stores. By 1915, the A&P, had expanded to 1,600 stores. After World War I, The Company was manufacturing its own products and had expanded to include fresh meat and produce. In 1936, it adopted the self-serve supermarket concept. World War I saw the beginning of “cash and carry” stores and they became very popular. Their popularity was made possible by the introduction of another technological invention – the automobile. Now instead of coming to town once a week, folks in the country, could come to town frequently if necessary. People were shopping for better prices which the chain stores could provide. Competition from the chain stores forced a group of independent grocers in the Northeast to band together in 1926. They formed the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) in order to secure discount bulk buying. (Still looking for more information about LeRoy’s IGA.) The idea of self-service, started with the Piggly Wiggly stores which first opened in Memphis, Tennessee in 1916. By 1929, there were more than 2,600 stores, and soon other stores followed. Safeway was also founded in the 1920s, when M.B. Skaggs purchased a store from his father inAmerican Falls, Idaho and merged his company with the former Selig stores. Apparently, there has been a debate on who started the first supermarket. To end the debate, the Food Marketing Institute with the help of the Smithsonian Institution and funding from H.J.Heinz, researched the issue and determined that the first true supermarket in the United States was opened in 1930, inside a former garage in Jamaica, New York, by a former Kroger employee, Michael Cullen. His slogan was “Pile it high. Sell it low.” In 1936, there were 17 King Cullen stores. His concept included separate food departments, selling large volumes of food at discount prices and providing a huge parking lot. The supermarket was no longer the local corner store, and had to be built outside of town. In LeRoy, the huge Lampson/Butler mansion was razed for a supermarket, Super Duper, on West Main Street – now Save A Lot. This included a large parking lot. Star Market opened a store out of the village onWest Main Road, with an even larger parking lot. And of course, with the pandemic, many stores are offering “curbside service.” What’s Old is New Again